Bans in CS:GO for Betting on Matches
New examples of unfair behavior in esports have come to light. This time ESIC (Esports Integrity Commission) has targeted CS:GO players for betting on matches. Some have been banned for as much as 5 years.
Not long after a wave of bans for coaches in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports scene, another high-profile case is about to unfold - this time involving players who bet on matches at bookmakers. ESIC (Esports Integrity Commission), which investigates cases of fraud in esports, published a report that summarizes the results of the investigation.
Thirty-five players who violated the Anti-Corruption Code were banned from professional competitions. The duration of their bans is, depending on the severity of the offense, from one to even five years. ESIC's document focuses mainly on players from the Australian region.
The penalties are given on a five-level scale:
- Level 1: Betting on matches - 12 months
- Level 2: Betting on one's own matches - 24 months
- Level 3: Serious betting (betting on more than ten matches) - 36 months
- Level 4: Betting against one's own team - 48 months
- Level 5: Betting against own team in more than ten matches - 60 months
In the statement the commission stresses that it is not only betting against one's own team, but also any betting on the results in one's own backyard that is detrimental to the scene. This is because it cannot be ruled out that the player in question may have had access to confidential information regarding a match that may have been fixed.
Players have been banned from all organizations that work with ESIC, including but not limited to: ESL, DreamHack, Eden, BLAST or WePlay.
The list of banned players is as follows:
- Jeremy "motion" Lloyd - 12 months
- Patrick "falcon" Romano De Sousa - 12 months
- Jonathan "Del" Sackesen - 12 months
- Grayson "vax" Uppington - 12 months
- Aiden "meta" Wiringi Jones - 12 months
- Kaito "minusthecoffee" Massey - 12 months
- John "jcg" Grima - 12 months
- Isaac "prodigy" Dahlan - 12 months
- Billy "beetee" Thomson - 12 months
- Kieren "Muzoona" Jackson-Clapper - 12 months
- Matthew "zilla" Zdilar - 12 months
- James "roflko" Lytras - 12 months
- Damon "damyo" Portelli - 12 months
- Jak "jtr" Robinson - 12 months
- Daniel "rekonz" Mort - 12 months
- Nicolas "lao" Gulloti - 12 months
- Marcus "mdk" Kyriazopoulos - 12 months
- Joel "pearss" Kurta - 12 months
- James "jamie" MacPahil - 12 months
- Ioan (Ionica) "bowie" Tuleasca - 12 months
- Joshua "joshaaye" Wilson - 12 months
- Ryan "kragz" Clarke - 12 months
- Stephen "sjanastasi" Anastasi - 12 months
- Damian "jd" Simonovic - 12 months
- Carlos "rackem" Jefferys - 12 months
- Joshua "jhd" Hough-Devine - 12 months
- Corey "netik (aka nettik)" Browne - 12 months
- Roman "matr1kz" Santos - 24 months
- Cailain "caily" Lovegrove - 24 months
- Akram "adk" Smida - 24 months
- Andy "Noobster" Zhang - 36 months
- Jayden "foggers" Graham - 48 months
- Sam "tham" Mitchell - 48 months
- Mate "habbo hotel" Poduje - 48 months
- Samuel "samy" Jarvis - 48 months
- Daniel "deezy" Zhang - 48 months
- John "wots" Zhu - 48 months
- Daryl "mayker" May - 48 months
- Matthew "jam" Castro - 60 months
- Alvin "Gravins" Changgra - 60 months
- Wilson "willyks" Sugianto - 60 months
ESIC has announced that the investigation into betting among pro players will continue. In the future, we can expect similar statements regarding the US and European CS:GO scenes.
